After Hawaii holiday, Australia’s PM Scott Morrison roasted for video heralding his bush fire announcements
- Prime Minister Scott Morrison has made a series of public relations missteps as nation looked to him for leadership
- Last week a firefighter in the field had refused to shake Morrison’s hand when approached
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison was lambasted and mocked on social media for politicising a beefed up defence force response to the nation’s catastrophic bush fires.
A 50-second video set to electronic music posted on Morrison’s Twitter and Facebook accounts Saturday outlining additional military-backed measures initially included a link to donate to the political leader’s Liberal Party, sparking thousands of comments.
Many praised the unprecedented scale up of army, naval and aircraft services, while others labelled images of the prime minister talking to firefighters as “shameless” advertising.
“The video message simply communicates the government’s policy decisions and the actions the government is undertaking to the public,” Morrison said in a Twitter post late Saturday amid a flurry of comments, including from Kevin Rudd, a former Labour Party leader who served as prime minister twice from December 2007 to September 2013.
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Shadow minister for international development Pat Conroy described the ad as a “new low”, while the non-partisan Australia Defence Association, a public-interest watchdog, said the Liberal Party advert was a “clear breach” of conventions keeping the military out of politics.
“To then solicit donations to the Liberal Party while millions of Aussies are giving to fire appeals is beyond belief. Note this disgusting ad was personally authorised by this scum of a PM,” Conroy tweeted.
New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said he found out about the additional military aid through the media, causing him to spend time understanding how the measures would be integrated while his crews battled a dozen fire emergencies across the state.
“I was disappointed and I was frustrated on one of our busiest days,” he told reporters Sunday in Sydney.
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Fitzsimmons – whose own father was killed firefighting – has been the face of the crisis in Australia’s most populous state. He said he has since received an apology from the prime minister’s office.
Victoria’s Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp also said he had received no official notification before the announcement.
The prime minister attempted to brush off criticism on Sunday.
“There has been plenty of criticism, I’ve had the benefit of a lot of analysis on a lot of issues. But I can’t be distracted by that. The public, I know are not distracted by that,” he claimed.
Firefighters continue to battle two “emergency-level” blazes in New South Wales and four in Victoria, authorities said Sunday.
Australia’s capital Canberra was ranked as the city with the poorest air quality in the world by Air Visual, an independent online air quality index monitor, amid a severe haze caused by the fires.
Galleries and other buildings were closed safeguard public health.
In some rural areas police patrolled streets amid reports of looting and break-ins in bush fire-affected areas.
The escalating crisis has been gaining more international attention, with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth sending a message of support to Australia.
“My thanks go out to the emergency services and those who put their own lives in danger to help communities in need,” the queen said in a statement.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and DPA
